They have been called "The Greatest Rock And Roll Band In The World" and I for one believe they are only rightfully labeled this. Backed by a superior rhythm section (including the straight-laced but musically-genius jazz-drummer Charlie Watts, as well as Darryl Jones, a phenomenal bass player with more personality and panache in his fingers than Bill Wyman ever showed onstage or off) and fronted by a shrewd businessman lead singer loaded with sex-appeal and charisma, a boyishly-appealing second-banana guitarist and a champion-riffmaker lead guitarist, the Rolling Stones are a wealth of talent and calculated trend-making insight.

Jagger, perhaps one of the most ingenious rock and roll musicians from the Sixties, has enough sense to keep the Stones rolling, so to speak. As the old cliche says, these Rolling Stones gather no moss, because Jagger keeps pushing the envelope of artistic talent. He doesn't allow them to get caught up in any one trend long enough to die with it. He kept them afloat in the turbulent Seventies, the flamboyant Eighties, and the Explosive Nineties. The Rolling Stones' shows are not two and a half hours of retro-action. It is not a two and a half hour trip down memory lane to 1965, but rather a modern look at some of their old hits, mixed in with recent songs. They load their tours heavily with recent stuff off the album being promoted, and saturate the rest of the show not necessarily with the Billboard hits, but with the rock-and-roll jams that never fail to pump the blood just as fast as a shot of heroin.

In the late Seventies, the Stones dabbled in something that has earned them legendary fame in their touring (and I'm not talking about drugs): elaborate settings. From the 1975 Tour of the Americas (featuring the debut of Ronnie Wood) to the current tours, the Rolling Stones have been pushing the standards for stage presentation. Jagger learned that fans wanted to see an elaborate spectacle for their money, and gave his fans just--and as usual, he gave it to them in excess.

In 1989, the Stones broke the records for grossing money on a tour when they kicked off their Steel Wheels Tour, a show that showcased strobelights and smokescreens. That record remained untouched for five years, until Voodoo Lounge broke that record (at the same time, The Eagles' Hell Freezes Over tour overcame Steel Wheels, but not Voodoo Lounge) with a stage show that boggles the mind. Voodoo Lounge staggered the records, until Bridges To Babylon came along. Voodoo and Bridges both harnessed the powers of strobe lights and controlled flames, as well as flambouyant super-sized stages and kick-ass music cranked up to deafening volume.

Their stage-prowess aside, the Stones' albums are worth listening to. They don't hide behind their stage illusions, and when packed into a small venue, they can bring down the house. They have a knack for producing songs that capture the attention. Catchy little rockers, and heart-wrenching love-ballads make up the majority of their works, and Jagger has finally elevated himself to the status he has only dreamed of for so long: a truely legendary, serious musician. Perhaps one of the most prolific songwriters in the music scene, Jagger and Richards are never not writing, and on a rarified occasion, a combination of songs pulls together for a phenomenal cut. Voodoo Lounge is one of those occassions.

I think that this one is a true masterpiece; if any recent Rolling Stones album can be labeled a masterpiece, Voodoo Lounge and its successor Bridges to Babylon are the masterpieces. This is my favorite, really, tied with Bridges to Babylon. I am a real sucker for 90s Stones songs.

Love Is Strong

Their single from this album, this song's video is groundbreaking in more than one way (Its use of special effects put Mick Jagger at about the height of the Statue of Liberty, walking down a street of NYC) yet the song stands on its own. The narrator is entirely enthralled with his subject, telling her "A glimpse of you was all took; a stranger's glance, it got me hooked" "Love is strong, and you're so sweet, and someday babe we got to meet". The song itself stands on its own, and Richards' legendary riffs, as always, set a new standard.

You Got Me Rocking

This song is on their tour and can be seen on the video recording of a Voodoo Lounge tour stop. This is the perfect Jagger-dance tune. Jagger cuts loose in the video, thumbing his nose at the notion that 50-year-old grandpas can't rock a joint to shreds. (As Jagger has been quoted saying "Not bad for old farts, huh?") In this song, in a fashion similar to "It's Only Rock and Roll," Jagger chants out "Hey hey you got me rockin' now!" after talking about failing in a variety of careers ("I was a fighter, taken for a sucker punch") And this has the potential of being a tour classic for years to come, because, face it. The Stones won't ever go out quietly. Their supposed "last tour" was in 1975, and twenty-four years later, they are still rocking stadiums into rubble, overrunning the world and shattering ticket sales records.

Trivia question: how many occupations did the narrator have before he got rocking? Answer: eight (Butcher, Surgeon, pitcher, fighter, boxer, hooker, writer, tycoon)

Sparks Will Fly

This is a foot-tapping tune that fits the Stones' style beautifully, but a few verses into it, Mick Jagger slips in a line "Gonna fuck your sweet ass" that I usually burst out laughing to because of the way he says it. It's comparable to when Jagger says "shit" in "Sweet Virginia" ("got to scrape that shit right off your shoes") in the emphasis he puts on the profanity. It's almost as if Jagger is thumbing his nose at the general population.

The Worst

This is Keith Richards singing on it. I got three lines into it and skipped it. He doesn't hardly sing on this one. This makes Mick look VERY superior as the lead singer. (We never hear Ronnie Wood on this album, nor do we ever hear the Silent Stone, Charlie Watts, beyond his instrument. But then again, when did we ever hear either of them?)

New Faces

The rumors of Mick having no talent in musicianship and hardly a voice for singing are dispelled in this lovely ballad, where he croons "well, well, is he ringing your bell? My heart is breaking in two". Charlie Watts--ranked by most bands as one of the best drummers in history (and who was never really pushed into the spotlight of which he is glad, too) --plays only the tambourine: that's how slow, gentle it is.

Moon Is Up

This is catchy, foottapping, and completely undetermineable. I shudder to guess what it could be about.

Out of Tears

This is one of my favorites and I heard it on the radio a few years ago, and have been hooked ever since. Jagger croons here "I won't cry when you say goodbye, I'm out of tears" and mournfully speaks of how he won't lament, even though his acting-voice says otherwise. It almost broke my heart when I first heard it.

I Go Wild

This is an all-or-nothing rocker about a person who goes ballistic with passion at the site of his lover, who apparently abuses him. Jagger rocks along the beat with lines like "I got wild when you're in my face, and I go wild when I taste your taste, I go wild and I go insane, and I get sick--somebody stop this pain!"

Brand New Car

This song is not about a car at all but a girl (but you have to look between the lines to get this). Jagger sounds like he's gloating on this track, and the lines back up the innuendo in his voice. This is a track I DO NOT LIKE. I always skip it.

Sweethearts Together

This is a ballad about love lasting forever. Jagger takes an optimistic view of women and love on this one (a rarity for a Stones' song) talking about how "everyone's so cynical, and say that love won't last. Think about your future, stop living in the past" This song is a classic, really. And it is such a departure from earlier stuff like "Honkey Tonk Women" and "Under My Thumb" that it is almost hard to fathom how the same mind could have composed "It's All Over Now" and "Sweethearts Together". Jagger and Richards' view on life has definitely matured as they have.

Ronnie Wood has been quoted as saying that this song is also therapeutic to Jagger and Richards when tensions start getting between the two of them. It is a modernized "Waiting On A Friend" in its own way.

Suck on the Jugular

This is just too weird. I skipped this one entirely after hearing the first verse. Don't read too far into this song, there isn't much there beyond heavy innuendo and blatant "come-on".

Blinded By Rainbows

Though lovely, this song fits better in the sixties as Jagger croones about the coming apocalypse ("did you ever feel the blast as the syntex bomb goes off? Do you ever hear the screams as the limbs are torn off? Did you ever you ever kiss the child who just saw his father shot? Do you ever shed a tear as the war drags on and on?") Of course, I am a sucker for a song like this, and so I listen to it over and over again.

Baby Break It Down

This is about a couple having troubles. ("You're standing on your side, I'm standing on mine. It only needs one step and you could be crossing the line. There's nothing between us or maybe too much Whatever it is, it's too fragile to touch") This sounds like the rhythm of a Rolling Stones song twenty or thirty years ago, but it stands on its own here.

Thru and Thru

This is another Keith Richards song that I could not even finish I became so bored with it.

Mean Disposition

As is traditional, the Stones go out on a bang on the album. This song is about the contention between the narrator and his violent exgirlfriend. ("She's got a mean disposition, got a big shooter too. She's gotta mean dispostion. Really make a mess, really make a mess out of you." )

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This page was last updated Wednesday February 27, 2002